A Second Look at the 30-Million-Word Gap

In this blog post, I am going to share with you some of the wisdom I gleaned from Dr. Dana Suskind's book, Thirty Million Words, Building a Child's Brain, Tune In, Talk More, Take Turns, published by Dutton Publishing in 2015.  This is a must-read for all of us concerned with the future of our children and grandchildren.

• I've come to realize that one of the reasons that the issue of language and vocabulary development in babies doesn't "stick," could be that when time is the most critical during the birth-to-three age range, it is not as visible as the problem becomes by the time children reach pre-kindergarten or kindergarten.  Currently our educational system is taking action at a time when it is less effective--in preschool or pre-kindergarten.  It is almost too late.  We have known for many years that the brain has the most plasticity during the years from birth to three, but I don't think we had the evidence to prove how significant this really was until the work of Betty Hart and Todd Risley was published in 1995 by Paul H. Brooks Publishing Company, in Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children.  Their data collection and analysis continued for well over ten years, and it should have rocked the educational world!  From this data collection and analysis emerged the 30-Million-Word-Gap.  

• What is the 30-Million-Word-Gap anyway?  In their study, Hart and Risley and their associates visited 42 families in their homes once a month for an hour, writing down all the talking that went on between the child and parents, beginning when the child first began to talk at around 1  year old until about 3 years of age.  These families were divided into three groups: welfare, working class, and professional.  They knew when they started that some parents talk to their kids more than others, but they had no idea the extent to which that was true.  As the data mounted over the months, Hart & Risley found that during their first three years, children from poor families heard 30 million fewer words than those in professional families.  This difference permeated all aspects of social growth and intellectual accomplishments.    

• Scientists demonstrated the problem.  Now parents, childcare providers, and other adults in our country have to own and understand the problem and come up with solutions.  We have had this information since 1995.  That is 23 years!  Why aren't we doing what we know works?
• Suskind tells us that by high school, the gap between the academically successful and the academic dropouts is massive.
• My frustrations with this situation are many, but when this problem rears its ugly head in elementary school when students are learning to read, it is sad.  If a child is having trouble reading, he most likely was never exposed to the vocabulary and language required for him to understand.  If a child is having trouble in math, does he understand the language of math?  If a child is having trouble in science, does he understand the language or question comprehension that is required?  Math and science both have a language and vocabulary all their own.  All teachers in every grade need to understand and respect the critical development and importance of language, vocabulary (terminology), and question comprehension. 
• "...general acceptance of the importance of the early language environment has to occur at a population level" (Suskind, p. 226).  How can we approach this problem?  How can we work together?  
• Suskind calls for defining language environments for infants and toddlers in childcare.  She thinks this could help design early childhood training programs.  I wonder if we could add this to the standards for CDA (Child Development Associate) Credential? 
• "Now I look at the adults who care for them [children] and think, 'You are more powerful than you ever imagined and I hope you know it  (Suskind, p. 239).'"  
• "There is no child in this country who should be without the necessary language environment to build his or her brain to optimum potential" (Dana Suskind, p. 246). 
• Parents could positively change the trajectory of their children's lives by engaging their babies and toddlers in "conversations" rich in meaningful vocabulary throughout every day. 
• Spread the word!

​                                                                                              Karen K Rossi, Ed.D., LSLS Cert. AVEd.  4/3/2018